Student jobs in Slovakia: how many hours you may work, how it is arranged and where to look

Who may work and how much: limits by status

An international student's right to work depends not on the university but on the legal basis of their stay in Slovakia. The most common case is temporary residence for the purpose of study (prechodný pobyt na účel štúdia): with it a full-time student may work without a work permit and without a labour market test, but with a cap on hours. The limit is set by the Act on employment services and is counted per week, not per month — you cannot work 80 hours in one week and then rest.

Forms of employment: which contract to sign

In Slovakia a student is usually offered not an employment contract but one of the agreements performed outside an employment relationship (dohody). The difference lies in contributions, holiday entitlement and employee protection. Briefly, there are four options:

Income tax is 19 % withheld at source; with a modest income almost everything withheld comes back after you file the annual tax return, and if your yearly income stays below the tax-free allowance no tax arises at all. The employer must report hiring a foreigner to the labour office by filing an information card — that is the employer's duty, but ask for a copy: it is useful when you extend your residence.

What students are paid

The minimum wage in Slovakia is revised every year; for 2026 the reference is around 900 € per month gross, roughly 5 € per hour (check the exact figure in the government regulation). Student jobs usually pay 5–8 € per hour gross: the lower end is warehouse work, cafés and promo, the upper end is call centres with languages, customer support, tutoring and junior IT roles. These are reference figures, not a promise — rates depend on the city and on the languages you speak.

• Warehouses, logistics, retail — from the minimum rate, often night shifts with a supplement; easiest to find in Bratislava, Trnava and Žilina;
• Cafés, restaurants, hotels — around the minimum rate plus tips; basic Slovak is needed;
• Customer support and shared service centres — 6–9 € per hour on an agreement; Russian, Ukrainian and English are valued, with many vacancies in Bratislava and Košice;
• IT internships — from 6–7 € per hour, sometimes turning into a permanent role after the degree;
• Tutoring, translation, freelance — negotiable rates, but you still need a written contract with the client.

At 20 hours a week and 6 € an hour you earn roughly 480 € gross a month — enough for a dormitory place and part of your food, but not for full self-support. Work out your budget in advance in the cost of study and living calculator: a job should close the gap, not be your only source of income.

Where to look for jobs and internships

• Profesia.sk — the largest job portal; use the "brigáda / práca pre študentov" filter;
• Brigada.sk, Kariéra.sk, Praca.sk — part-time jobs and internships, often with no experience required;
• Student agencies (student service organisations attached to universities) — they draw up the student work agreement themselves and keep an eye on the hour limit;
• University career centres and job fairs — STU, TUKE and Comenius University regularly hold Deň kariéry, where companies look for interns;
• Student groups and chats from your own country — many offers are passed on by word of mouth, but a written contract is still mandatory;
• Directly with companies — the large support centres in Bratislava and Košice recruit students with languages all year round.

For a first job it is easier for an international student to go through a student agency or the university career centre: they know about the 20-hour limit and will not offer an off-the-books arrangement. In the second and third year aim for internships in your field — they often become the first job after graduation (more in the blog). If you are still choosing a university, take the local job market into account — see admission after high school.

How to combine work with study and keep your status

The purpose of your residence is study. When you apply for an extension, the foreign police look at the confirmation of continued study from the university, and the university looks at attendance and credits. Work in itself does not threaten your status, but three situations do:

1. Exceeding the hour limit

   Twenty hours a week is the ceiling for all your contracts together, not for each employer separately. Two agreements of 15 hours each already break the rule.
2. Failing the exam session because of work

   If you are expelled or moved to a part-time form of study, the basis for your residence disappears — and with it the right to work without a permit. Keep studying the priority.
3. Working without a contract

   Cash in hand with no paperwork means a fine for the employer and a record of illegal work for you, which complicates the extension and any future change of the purpose of residence to work.

Plan your shifts around the semester, not the other way round: cut the hours during the exam sessions in January and May–June, and work more in summer — though the statutory limit applies during holidays too. What you need for the residence extension is covered on the questions and answers page.

Field internships and Erasmus+

On many programmes a placement (odborná prax) is a compulsory part of the curriculum: engineering faculties send students to automotive plants, IT faculties to software companies, business faculties to banks and shared service centres. Such a placement is often paid under a student agreement and is not exempt from the hour limit, so count it together with any part-time job.

A separate route is the Erasmus+ traineeship: a placement of 2 to 12 months in a company or organisation in another EU country, with a programme grant. International students at Slovak universities take part on the same terms as locals; you apply through the university's international office, usually a semester before you travel. It is one of the most reliable ways to add experience in a European company to your CV before you even graduate. What we do for students at this stage is described on the services page.

Typical mistakes and risks

• starting work before you receive the residence card — on a visa or visa-free;
• signing a "cooperation" through someone else's živnosť, or signing nothing at all;
• losing track of your total hours when you have two jobs;
• not keeping a copy of the contract and the information card — and then struggling to prove your income at the extension;
• living only on part-time earnings and failing the exam session: student status matters more than 200 € a month;
• not filing a tax return and losing the refund of the tax withheld;
• not checking your own status — temporary protection and residence for study follow different rules.

FAQ